The New Horizon
by Kalianna Loralei
Summary: A stranger arrives in Camelot, unknown to most. Two days later, the world starts to fall apart and monsters are everywere. Will Merlin be forced to use magic to save Camelot or will someone else interveen? It all rests with magic on the horizon.
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

It was dark. Way too dark. It was like the elements had turned against us. That was scary. Even more scary than the thought of bad magic being used in a place like Camelot. Why were we here? I have no idea. I just go where I'm told to, or in some cases, sent. That's the problem with being the youngest, (especially in a big family); you have no choice with a lot of things.

-CRACK-

Jimminy Cricketz! What on earth was that? I bet it was scary. It always is. I bet someone's following me. Someone dark and evil with a sinister laugh: mwahahaha! And a long dark beard and a curly-twirly moustache that they twirl when chasing a victim and I bet they're twirling it now 'coz I'm the next victim. Ooh, I don't want to think about that! -Shuts eyes- '_I'm at home, in my bed and this is all a dream. When I open my eyes I will wake up with the blankets over me and this will have all been a nightmare... _What am I thinking? Of course its a nightmare. A nightmare that I'm living!

-SNAP-

Not again! My eyes fly open at the noise and dart from side to side as I frantically search for whoever it is that's out there. Hopefully not some evil super villain with a twirly-wirly moustache and a sinister laugh that goes mwahahaha. Why do I keep not paying attention to where I'm going? Oh right, I'm too scared! I trip and stumble as I wade through a puddle that I'm sure that wasn't there a moment ago. I sigh and roll my eyes, then regret my action as I trip over a root that I would have seen had I have been paying attention. I'm so fed up! To my horror, tears begin to stream down my face and I wipe them away. I can't take this any more! I'm cold, wet, hungry, a complete mess! My stockings are ripped and lie around my ankles, the thread holding them together completely ruined. I hate bushes. I hate brambles. I hate the dark and not knowing where I'm going. My dress is mud stained and ripped along them hem, my cloak no better off. My hood is down and my hair begins to flatten as it starts to rain, drowning my sight in the torrential downpour. It's still dark, maybe even darker than before but I can't tell any more. It all looks the same to me. I hate the dark, I hate the rain and I hate getting wet. I rush on, wallowing in self pity. I'm miserable, thoroughly miserable. I'm about to die and all I can think about is Shimmer, my well... 'blob' as my nephew Gary likes to call her, but she's not a blob. Well she is but that's not the point.

-CRUNCH-

Okay, I hate to admit it but I'm scared out of my wits. There is definitely someone behind me now, and they're gaining. Wait a minuet, was that a... No it couldn't have been, could it? I swear I just heard a horse whinny. Wait, up ahead, I can see a, a light. Yes I'm sure I just saw a light flicker in front. Well, at least I think it's a light. Right, I've gotta keep going. I stumble towards it, not caring if its friend or foe. To be honest, I'd rather die than stay out here in the dark all night, that's how much I hate it. Then, I see a figure, two, three, lots and they're all standing there by the light. Maybe they're stupid, maybe they're not and it's a trick to lure me closer. Well call me a sap; it works. I squint and I can see them more clearly now. All but one are wearing armour and have their swords drawn but they're not aimed at me. Maybe they can't see me or maybe it's another trick. Maybe they're just appearing friendly and defending but really they just want me close enough so they can kill me. I don't care.

I throw myself at their feet and weep from exhaustion. My feet ache and I just want to find a nice warm bed to curl up in and sleep for ages. The guy in front of me sheaths his sword and helps me to my feet, passing me over to the guy next to him on his right-the one who's not wearing armour. You know what, he reminds me of Caeran, my brother, but I don't want to think about that now. Quite frankly, I don't want to think about anything. Instead, I just stand there and cry. The leader (at least I presume he is the leader) turns to his knights (and yes I do know what a knight is, much to my brothers comments about me being a shallow minded girl who doesn't know squat) and says "Take her back to the castle. Make sure she gets cleaned up and has something to eat. Merlin, you're in charge of her. I want half of you men to stay here with me in case any more of them have survived the bandit attack." Wait, survived? Bandits? We weren't attacked by bandits. They were high class men with sharp pointy swords, not rocks and daggers. What on earth is he going on about?

He turned to the man who I'm leaning on and I dismiss these thoughts.

"Keep her safe. Nothing is to happen to her Merlin, okay? She is the daughter of a very powerful ally. We mustn't give them a reason to start a war." How did he know who I was? Wait he knows my father? What on earth? He turned back to his horse, pulled a blanket off it and draped it over my shoulders. "Here. You're safe now. We'll find you're friends soon, I promise. Merlin will take you to the castle and see that you're safe."

I give up. I just have too many questions and I'm far too tired.

Slowly I nod and mumble "thank you", my lips numb from the cold. The man Merlin leads me away slowly and gracefully and I trip after him, trying to muster the little dignity I have left. I look to the east and smile as the world starts to lighten. I was safe and going to be warm.

As the sun begins to rise, I make out the shadowy buildings of my haven: the castle of Camelot.


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: I do not own Merlin and sorry for taking so long to post this. Also I want to thank the people that I based characters on and it's nothing personal, I love all you guys even if you do annoy me. Oh and forgive the lack of Arthur prattyness throughout the 'story'. Enjoy :D**

**Chapter 1-A new day**

It was late morning the next day with the sun high in the sky. Through the open curtains, sunlight trickled in, renouncing the shadows from the furniture. The bed squatted near the centre of the room, occupied for the first time in years. The occupant of the bed was a small girl- height-wise, not age-wise, with a tumble of dark, honey curls framing her face. She lay there in a fitful sleep, a small frown on her face, her lips silently muttering words unknown to most.

Outside in the courtyard, the world clattered and clanked as it continued with its work. In the Blacksmith's workshop, his apprentice, not looking where he was going, bumped into a metal barrel filled with hot burning coals, ready for the harsh winter that was on its way. The barrel wobbled and teetered on its edge like it hadn't quite made up its mind on whether it wanted to fall over or not. The boy having noticed the wobbling barrel after he had put down the pile of iron he had been carrying, stopped and stared at it, a look of pure horror on his face. It continued to teeter and, slowly but surely, tipped towards the ground, its mind made up and spilt the hot coals all over the cobbled stone outside the workshop. The coals spluttered and spat burning ashes and thick black steam as a villager ran towards the heap with a bucket of water in his hands.

"Arrgh!" screamed the man as he ran doggedly towards the burning mass. He tripped on the uneven cobble stones and flung the water over the coals, causing them to sizzle loudly and release billowing clouds of steam and even greater clouds of black smoke that drifted up over the castle.

Back in the bedroom, the girl sat up with a start, her eyes wide open in terror. She threw the bedclothes aside and sprang out of the bed, her feet barely hitting the floor, her eyes pale and misted over. She sprinted towards the door, her right leg banging against the small wooden table by the wardrobe. She cried out in pain but continued forwards until she hit the door. The girl scrabbled at the lock, her nails splintering as they scraped the metal. The door opened outwards, releasing the girl who ran forward, straight into Arthur. She struggled to get free as her held her, ignoring her hands as they beat at his chest.

"Cae, let me go. The stable's on fire. I've got to help the horses, and Ty and Finch. They'll burn Cae, everything will burn. Please Cae, please. Let me go!" She tried to pull away again but found she couldn't. Angrily, she wiped the tears out of her eyes and continued to beat at Arthur's chest.

"Shh, shh little one. It's okay. You're safe now. There's no fire here. The horses and Ty and Finch are fine, I promise. It was only spilt coals outside, no fire. Rest. Everything's fine."

He held her tight and stroked her curls, her hands falling down and her being was rested on his chest.

"Oh Cae. I thought something bad had happened again. Oh Cae, I want to go home. I miss Aldain and Nana and Papi and the horses and the puppies and Lolei and and... Oh Cae," she said miserably.

"Shh, shh. Go back to bed little one. You need to rest again. There's no need to be sad." He lifted up her chin and looked into her eyes. "I promise you, everything is fine. You don't have to cry. You can visit them soon."

She nodded and wiped her eyes. Slowly she stepped towards the bed, her movements fluid like she was in a dream.

Merlin came barging through the door carrying a letter in his hand. "Arthur, your father wanted..." Merlin stopped and looked at the hand that was now covering his mouth.

"Shh, you idiot!" hissed Arthur. "She's only just calmed down. Do **not** get her worked up. And what on earth is going on with your scarf?"

Merlin looked down at his scarf-blob that was wriggling vigorously and patted it. Immediately, it calmed down and settled back into scarf-mode. Disgustedly he peeled Arthur's hand away from his mouth and looked at the girl. "She's still...you know, um, not all there?"

"Merlin!" hissed Arthur angrily.

"Goodnight Cae. Goodnight Merlin," the girl mumbled and sighed as her head sank into the pillows. Arthur pulled the blankets over her and smiled. "Goodnight Cessa." He turned towards Merlin and pointed at the door. Merlin snickered and walked out the room with Arthur following.

"What on earth were you thinking Merlin? She can't wake up, not yet. If she does... well that wouldn't be good, especially if she gets angry."

"Why do you act as if you care about her? She's just a girl. And why did she call you Cae? How does she know my name?"

Arthur sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Because I do care! She saved my life."

"Wait, what?" Merlin stared at Arthur, his faced shocked. "She saved your...life? When? How? Why?"

"It was last summer, when I disappeared for a few days and everyone thought I was dead. You know, when I got separated from the hunting party and no-one could find me. I got attacked in the woods and I um got badly wounded. I was lying on the ground amongst the leaves and was about to be run through by a man with sword, and then she appeared. It was like a fairy-story; she came out of nowhere, waved her arms and said "Begone.". She didn't shout, or yell. It was just like she was having a conversation with them. One word and they fled. Merlin, they were full grown men, taller than me, skilled swordsmen, and they ran like scared rabbits."

"Wow. I just can't believe you needed help. I mean why would... never mind. So what happened after that? Surely you could have died from a wound as bad as what you described but there wasn't a scratch on you. How...?

"How am I here now? Lets see...

_Well I um, passed out amongst the um, leaves. When I woke up, I found myself lying on a large, flat rock with a blanket carefully draped over me, in a cave. She was knelt there in the dust, staring at a bowl in hands, with a small fire burning in front of her with a metal pot over the top that was bubbling away. Slowly I sat up, I didn't want to make too much noise or she'd realise I was going to run but the blanket slipped to the floor. She turned around at the soft scrape of fabric on stone and smiled._

"_I'm glad you're awake. Don't move, you've not yet recovered. I hope you slept well and don't feel too worse for wear after those men tried to kill you. Do you know who they are? Never mind. Oh, I hope you don't mind but as you can see, I had to remove your shirt to tend to the wound. Don't touch the bandages, I haven't finished yet. That reminds me. You need a fresh coat of this and probably fresh bandages on too as those ones have got the blood and puss seeping through them now. This won't hurt a bit, I promise."_

_I looked down at the bandages and saw what she said was right. I groaned. I couldn't believe that she had, a commoner had... Don't look at me like that Merlin. She had on a dirty brown cape and why would a noble be around in the woods? No, I couldn't believe that she had taken my shirt off! No-one undresses me like I am a small child. _

"But Arthur, you need me to take off your armour after you've done tournaments or battled and stuff. Isn't that undressing you?"

"Merlin!"

"Bossy, prat."

"**Merlin!**"

_As she started walking towards me with the bowl in her hands, I tried to move away from her and stopped, wincing ever so slightly mind, as the wound was stretched. She stopped and covered her mouth, worriedly. At least I think she was worried. _

"_Please don't move. I've not yet put the stitches in to hold the wound together as I needed to put another layer of this on. Please, stop trying to run away. I'm not going to hurt you."_

_As she moved forwards again, I shuffled back on the rock and winced as intense agony shot up my side, my hands flying to my stomach. She smiled slightly, shook her head and moved faster. "You're acting worse than my nephew did when he got shot by a stray arrow and he's 6 years old."_

_As she stood over me, I glared at her and refused to move my hands._

"Why didn't you just let her heal you? Or at least let her help. She said about her nephew. Maybe she helped look after him. Its not as if she would have watched him die, or you for that matter." Merlin asked as he scratched his head.

Arthur sighed exasperatedly and glared at Merlin. "Why on earth would I let a stranger, a strange **girl **experiment with unknown chemicals and herbs on me, the sole prince and heir to Camelot? Really Merlin, you need to think. May I continue Merlin, or do I need to wait so that your slow mind can process that?"

Merlin looked at Arthur and said with mock sincerity "Yes Arthur. My slow brain has caught up with all the long words. You may continue with your story where you were being looked after by a girl who is now asleep in the room behind us which is now incidentally next to yours."

Arthur slapped the back of his head. "Idiot."

_She frowned, and glared back at me, rolled her eyes and muttered something I couldn't understand._

"Oh no! The mighty Prince Arthur was being glared at, by a girl he didn't know who wasn't swooning at his feet! And he couldn't understand something she **muttered**."

"Merlin!" Quickly Arthur glanced around the corridor to see if anyone was listening. "Will you shut up? Do you **want **to know how I met her or not?"

"Well..."

Arthur clapped his hand over Merlin's mouth. "You didn't need to answer. The girl is special. If you'd just let me get on..."

"Mumhhumphumphumpmuhph."

Arthur looked at Merlin and took the hand away. "What?"

"I said, 'why don't you just get to the point'?"

"Because the point is what happened, not why," he shouted at Merlin and ran a hand through his hair.

"But..."

"Don't ask, just listen."

_She sighed and sat down next to me, the bowl on the floor._

"_Why won't you let me help? You're in pain. You try to hide it but..." She looked up at me and stood up. I still stared at her, my hands still on my stomach. She went and knelt by the fire, lifted the lid from the pot and stirred its contents. She smiled and poured some white stuff into two bowls, one of which that she brought over to me. "Here." She put it on the rock next to me. I looked at it, lifted up the spoon and watched the white gloopy stuff ooze down it with distaste. She laughed at put her bowl down on the floor. "It is edible, I promise. It's honey porridge."_

_I looked at the bowl on the floor and back at her again._

"_Why..."_

"_Oh, it's not mine that I don't want. It's not for me. It's for Nawat, or Merlin, whichever one comes. I'll have some later. I'm not hungry now but you need to eat, build up your strength."_

"Oh is that... So she didn't know my name. It was someone else's..."

"Merlin!"

"_Why..." I winced as I tried to sit up. "Why would they want to come here? This place is so..." I looked up and stopped, her angry face looming over mine. _

"_So what? Just because you're some young noble who doesn't care how the poor have to live..._

"Wait, wait. How did she know **you** weren't a commoner?"

"Merlin, stop asking questions and **listen."**

"_You can't go around ridiculing everything that isn't plush, fancy and cushioned. People live in places like this all their lives, not just for one day. You don't care about the poor. Why would you? Very few nobles do. Nobody cares about the poor." She shook her head, walked to the cave entrance and stood their, waiting._

_I groaned, got to my feet and shuffled towards her awkwardly. "Look, I'm um well, sorry. Do you really live here?" _

_She turned and glared at me. Behind her in the woods, a figure emerged and strolled towards the cave, whistling a tune I didn't recognise._

"Oh look, another thing you didn't mumhhumphumphumpmuhph." Arthur clamped his hand over Merlin's mouth and glared at him again.

_She smiled and ran towards the person. The figure laughed as she tried to fling her arms around his neck and failed from the height gap between the two. He took her hand and began to lead her back to the cave._

"_It's nice to see you too Cessa. What are you doing here? It's not raining and camp's fine so why..." He looked behind her at me and stopped walking. "Cessa, who is he?" She looked down at the floor and fiddled with her necklace. "Um, well..."_

_He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Not another one. Cessa, how many times have we told you about adopting animals, let alone people?"_

_She glared at him angrily. "He is not my **pet**!He was dying Nawat. I couldn't very well leave him to die. That'd be against everything I stand for, even if he is a noble. I had to help. I couldn't just leave him." She hung her head and sat on the floor. _

_Nawat knelt down by her and tilted her head up so he could look at her properly. "Look, Cessa. I'm sorry I shouted at you. I'm just... It's weird seeing you doing these sort of things without us. You're all grown up now and I never noticed. I never realised how much like your mother you are." he stopped and glanced behind her at me as I slowly fell to the floor, my vision blurring and my head striking the rock that I had been sleeping on not so long ago, as I keeled over._

"_Cessa, your um pet has just fallen over and his head is bleeding."_

_She glared at him. "He is not my... Wait, what?"_

"To be honest, I don't exactly know what happened next exactly except for when I was going in and out of consciousness and she told me things, but I reckon that after I fell, she ran over to me and looked after me until I was well enough to come back here."

"You're not being a prat about it so you really like her then. It's true and accurate. I mean you're not playing at being the hero and stuff and having the girl swoon over you and..."

Arthur slapped the back of his head. "Her name is... oh never mind. There is more but that can wait. Come on. I have work for you to do. You need to polish my boots, scrub the floor, wash my shirts, clean my tack and polish my armour. Oh and don't take too long. I need you to keep an eye on her whilst I'm having dinner. Any questions that aren't related to the story?"

"Just one. When are you going to stop being a prat?"

Arthur smiled slowly, put his arm around Merlin's shoulder and led him down the corridor. "The same day you stop being an idiot which is never going to happen as I am **not** a prat!"


End file.
